Dracula in popular culture

The character of Count Dracula from the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker, has remained popular over the years, and many films have used the Count as a villain, while others have named him in their titles, such as Dracula's Daughter, The Brides of Dracula, and Dracula's Dog. Dracula has enjoyed enormous popularity since its publication and has spawned an extraordinary vampire subculture in the second half of the 20th century. More than 200 films have been made that feature Count Dracula, a number second only to Sherlock Holmes. At the center of this subculture is the legend of Transylvania, which has become almost synonymous with vampires.

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There are reports of a 1920 Soviet silent film Drakula (Дракула), based on Stoker's novel. The film would have predated the lost 1921 Hungarian film Dracula's Death, and is thus claimed to be the first film adaption of Dracula. Nothing regarding this film is known to survive; there are no known production stills, and there is very little information about this film available. Most sources agree that the existence of this film is questionable because no details appear to have survived, and its existence is not verifiable.[1]

The Stoker estate won its lawsuit, and all existing prints of Nosferatu were ordered destroyed. However, a number of unlicensed copies of the movie survived to the present era, where they entered the public domain.

The 1931 film version of Dracula was based on the 1927 stage play dramatised, with the Stoker estate's endorsement, by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston (see below); it starred Bela Lugosi as Dracula and Edward Van Sloan as Van Helsing, both of whom had originated their respective roles on the stage in the aforementioned play, along with Helen Chandler as Mina and Dwight Frye as Renfield. Directed by Tod Browning, it is one of the most famous versions of the story and is widely credited with initiating the Universal horror film series of the 1930s and ‘40s. The 1931 Dracula film was an inductee of the 2000 National Film Registry list.[2] The films had music only during the opening (the famous main theme from Swan Lake, which was also used at the beginning of other Universal horror productions) and closing credits, and during a brief sequence set at an opera. In 1999, Philip Glass was commissioned to compose a musical score to accompany the film. The current DVD release allows access to this music.

At the same time as the 1931 Lugosi film, a Spanish languageversion was filmed for release in Mexico. It was filmed at night, using the same sets as the Tod Browning production with a different cast and crew, a common practice in the early days of sound films. George Melford was the director, and it starred Carlos Villarías as the Count, Eduardo Arozamena as Van Helsing and Lupita Tovar as Eva. Because of America's movie industry censorship policies, Melford's Dracula contains scenes that could not be included in the final cut of the more familiar English version. It is also included on the Universal Legacy DVD.

The Universal Studios horror films made Dracula a household name by starring him as a villain in a number of movies, including several where he met other monsters (the most famous being the comedy Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, in which Lugosi played Dracula on film for the second and final time.)

In 1958, Hammer Films produced Dracula, a newer, more cinematic Gothic version of the story, starring Christopher Lee as Count Dracula and Peter Cushing as Doctor Van Helsing. In 2004 it was named by Total Film magazine as the 30th-greatest British film of all time. Although it takes many liberties with the novel's plot, the creepy atmosphere and charismatic performances of Lee and Cushing make it memorable. It was released in the United States as Horror of Dracula to avoid confusion with the earlier Lugosi version. This was followed by a long series of Dracula films, usually featuring Lee as the Count. It was Lee who fixed the image of the fanged vampire in popular culture.[3][4]

The Hammer films in which Dracula (or a follower) appeared (and the actor portraying the character) were:

Dracula (1958 - Christopher Lee); released in the U.S. as Horror of Dracula

Though Dracula is pronounced as dead in The Brides of Dracula, he is resurrected for Dracula: Prince of Darkness, before being killed off again. This formula is followed in each succeeding film apart from the last, The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires.

Drakula İstanbul'da (1953) was a Turkish made production starring balding Atif Kaptan as the count. It was the first sound film to depict Dracula with fangs.

Blood of Dracula (1957) was producer Herman Cohen's attempt to cash in on his previous success with I Was a Teenage Werewolf. The film was basically "I Was a Teenage Vampire", with the same story of a wayward teenager (Sandra Harrison) being transformed into a legendary fiend by an ill-willed adult (Louise Lewis). Herbert L. Strock directed.

The Return of Dracula (1958) brought the Count to modern day America. Matinee idol Francis Lederer played Dracula, who flees vampire hunters in Transylvania to take up residence in small-town America in the guise of an artist he had previously murdered. The Count begins to feed on the local populace and create more vampires before he is tracked to his lair in an abandoned mine and destroyed. Paul Landres directed from a screenplay by Pat Fielder. The film is also known, for some reason, as The Fantastic Disappearing Man in the U.K.. It has been shown on U.S. television under the title Curse of Dracula.

Batman Dracula (1964) is a black and white American film produced and directed by Andy Warhol, without the permission of DC Comics.

Batman Fights Dracula (1967) is a lost color Filipino film directed by Leody M. Diaz and written by Bert R. Mendoza. It is a parody of Batman films and the horror genre.

Blood of Dracula's Castle (1969) was a low-budget entry from director Al Adamson. Alex D'Arcy and Paula Raymond play Count and Countess Dracula, who have taken up residence in a castle in America under the aliases of Count and Countess Townsend. Too genteel to stalk their prey by night, these fiends are content to sip their blood from cocktail glasses prepared by their faithful butler George (John Carradine) and taken from beautiful young girls chained up in the castle's dungeon. In the end, they meet their doom in the rays of the morning sun.

Jonathan (1970) was an arty take on the legend from Germany. Jonathan (played by Juergen Jung) infiltrates the castle of the undead Count (who is never actually named in the film) played by Paul Albert Krumm.

Count Dracula (1970), directed by Jesus Franco, starring Christopher Lee as Dracula. In spite of its star, Franco's film is not a part of the Hammer series and was shot on a small budget. Lee is made up to look like the description of the Count from Stoker's novel and he does seem to grow younger as the story progresses, but the film otherwise takes some huge liberties with the plot. The international cast includes Herbert Lom as Van Helsing and Klaus Kinski as Renfield.

Cuadecuc, vampir is a 1970 experimental film by Spanish filmmaker Pere Portabella. It was shot on the set of Jesus Franco's Count Dracula and also stars Christopher Lee as Dracula and Herbert Lom as Van Helsing.

Dracula and Son (1976) is a French comedy again starring Christopher Lee as Dracula, here having trouble convincing his son to take up the family mantle of vampirism (in interviews, Lee has claimed that his character was not called Dracula during filming, and that the producers only decided to make it a Dracula film after the fact).

In 1978, an independent film company produced the horror thriller Dracula's Dog starring Michael Pataki as the mild-mannered family psychiatrist (who is also the last living member of the Dracula family) destined to encounter the vampiric Hounds of Dracula.

In 1982 the Filipino movie Dracula (original title: Darakula) was released with Redford White as Dracula. It was a parody of Dracula and vampire movies.

In 1985 Fracchia Vs. Dracula, an Italian horror-comedy film directed by Neri Parenti, was released. It was a parody of Dracula and horror movies, following Fracchia's task to sell real estate in Transylvania, namely the castle of Count Dracula. Edmund Purdom played Count Vlad / Dracula.

In 1988, Deran Sarafian directed To Die For a horror-romance film, starring Brendan Hughes as Vlad Tepes. It tells the story of Dracula moving into Los Angeles and falling in love with his real estate agent, Kate Wooten.

In 1989, Anthony Hickox directed Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat a Western horror/comedy, starring Bruce Campbell as Van Helsing. The film got only limited theatrical release, but earned a cult following.

In 1994, Michael Almereyda directed Nadja, an arthouse film set in contemporary New York City. Starring Elina Löwensohn as Dracula's daughter Nadja and Peter Fonda as Van Helsing.

In 1995, Mel Brooks did a comedic parody, Dracula: Dead and Loving It, which parodied all of the standard Dracula themes and portrayed the Count as an incompetent klutz. Brooks played Van Helsing as an aged professor and Dracula was played by Leslie Nielsen.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003) is a steampunk-dieselpunk action adventure film loosely based on the comic book series of the same name by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill. Directed by Stephen Norrington, starring Peta Wilson as Mina Harker.

A character named Drake appears in the 2004 film Blade: Trinity, where a group of vampires summon him in order to finally defeat Blade. It is stated that Drake is Dracula, but this is only one of many names he has gone by throughout the centuries, having been born around 5000 BC in ancient Sumer. Dominic Purcell portrays Drake.

The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice is a 2008 film featuring a plot by former KGB agents to restore the Soviet Union by resurrecting Dracula with the Judas Chalice, a goblet made out of the thirty pieces of silver given to Judas Iscariot for his betrayal of Jesus Christ. Dracula is revealed to in fact be Professor Lazlo (Bruce Davison) who has been helping the agents look for the Chalice. Crippled centuries before by drinking cholera-infected blood, Dracula is restored by the Chalice and battles protagonist Flynn Carsen. In the end, Flynn is able to kill Dracula with a makeshift stake created from an Aspen tree, the same type of tree that Judas, the original vampire, hung himself from. Dracula also turns out to be the vampire that sired Flynn's love interest Simone Renoir, which allows Simone to die and finally rest in peace as her soul could previously never rest with her sire still alive.

In October 2014, Universal released the action horror film Dracula Untold. Luke Evans portrays the title character, with Sarah Gadon and Dominic Cooper in supporting roles. Rather than adapting Stoker's original novel, the film creates an origin story for Dracula by portraying the story of Vlad the Impaler, who makes a deal with an ancient vampire to obtain dark powers in order to save his kingdom from an advancing Turkish army. In this version, Dracula is depicted as an anti-hero instead of a villain, as he is determined to protect his family and people at all costs.

In 2016 an Iranian film was released under title "Derakula" ("Dracula" in Persian) about an Iranian family man named Javad (Reza Attaran) who is kidnapped by a descendant of Dracula, whose wife has forced him to give up drinking human blood. The pair become friends, but things go disastrously awry when Javad tries to lessen the vampire's cravings through the use of drugs.

The first stage adaptation was written and directed by Bram Stoker himself, and performed once only at the Lyceum Theatre in London for the sole purpose of securing a stage copyright on the material in England. Stoker's production, which Lyceum actor/manager Henry Irving reportedly pronounced "Dreadful!", was called Dracula, or The Un-Dead and took place on May 18, 1897, preceding the novel's publication by eight days. The unwieldy manuscript took fifteen actors over four hours to perform.

In 1924, with the permission of the Stoker estate, the story was adapted for the stage a second time by Hamilton Deane. Titled Dracula, The Vampire Play the English touring production starred Deane himself as Van Helsing. In 1927, the play, as substantially revised by John L. Balderston, opened on Broadway in a production starring Bela Lugosi and Edward Van Sloan as the count and Van Helsing, respectively. Eventually the play would see a major Broadway revival in 1977 with atmospheric sets and costumes designed by Edward Gorey. This acclaimed Gorey production starred Frank Langella as the Count, who, like Lugosi before him, would go on to perform the role on the big screen; Langella was succeeded in the role by Raul Julia and Jean LeClerc. The same Gorey sets and costumes were used for a U.S. touring version of the play starring Jeremy Brett and a UK touring version starring Terence Stamp. The Deane-Balderston lines were altered somewhat and played for a more comedic effect.

In 1976 Dracula: Sabbat by Leon Katz,a black mass in honor of the famous vampire, an Off-Off Broadway rendition debuted.

Dracula, a play by Chris Bond was performed as the Christmas show in 1984, with Daniel Day-Lewis as Count Dracula and Peter Capaldi as Jonathan Harker. It was such a huge success that it was performed again in 1985, with a different cast.[9]

An ironic adoptation of Dracula in 2 acts by Valery Belyakovich premiered in Moscow, Russia in 2005.[11]

Dracula was performed entirely on a Bouncy Castle at the 2008 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Bouncy Castle Dracula was produced by The Strolling Theatricals, the company behind íts Bouncy Castle Hamlet and Bouncy Castle Macbeth, which featured on ITV's 'Britain's Got Talent'.[12][13]

In 2013, Blackeyed Theatre adaptation, entitled Dracula and written by John Ginman, toured across the UK from September 2013 until March 2014. The production, directed by Eliot Giuralarocca and featuring original live music composed by Ron McAllister, was opened at South Hill Park on 26 September 2013.

My Sidekick Dracula, a play by Kate Aksonova written originally in Ukrainian and then translated into English in 2014. Tired from life, Dracula thinks about committing suicide. But he gets involved in the lives of other people and gives second thought to his plans.[14]

In 2015 Little Ones Theatre and Theatre Works presented Dracula produced by Stephen Nicolazzo. The production was billed as "A high camp homage to silent cinema, horror, and the ultimate queer hero, The Prince of Darkness". It was played entirely without dialog.[15][16]

Possessed, The Dracula Musical, Off-Broadway musical produced by the American Stage Company with music by Carter Cathcart, lyrics by Jason Darrow, book by Robert Marasco premiered at the Becton Theater on the campus of Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, US in 1987.[18] Dracula was played by Michael Zaslow. The audio recording of the musical was released in 1990.

Dracula, Another Bloody Musical premiered at the Westminster Theatre in London in 1988. Harry Herbert played Dracula. Princess Diana visited with the cast members after seeing one performance.

es:Drácula, el musical, Argentinian musical written and directed by Pepe Cibrián, music by Ángel Mahler. It premiered in Buenos Aires in 1991. The musical proved to be hugely popular in Argentina and was later staged in Brazil, Chile and Spain.[19]

Dracula: A Musical with music and lyrics by Paul Michael Brown premiered in 1993 in McKeesport Little Theater, PA, US with Larry Newman as Dracula.[20] The audio recording of the musical was released in 1994.

Nosferatu the Vampire, a rock opera musical by Bernard J. Taylor inspired by the silent movie classic by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau received its world premiere at the Madison Theatre, Peoria, Illinois in 1995, followed by a production at the Hippodrome, Eastbourne, England, shortly afterwards. The vampire in the musical is referred to only as "Nosferatu", however all other characters have their original names from Stoker's novel (Mina, Jonathan, Lucy, Van Helsing, etc.). Concept cast recording of the musical was released in 1995 with Peter Karrie as Nosferatu, Claire Moore as Mina, Mario Frangoulis as Jonathan.[21]

Dracula, a musical by Czech composer Karel Svoboda. Its world premiere was in Prague on 13 October 1995 with Daniel Hůlka in the title role.

Dracula: A Chamber Musical, a 1997 Canadian musical adaptation with book and lyrics by Richard Ouzounian and the music and orchestration by Marek Norman.

Dracula, a 1998 German fantasy musical by jazzrock veteran composer Klaus Doldinger, directed by Walter Haupt, with Uwe Ochsenknecht as Dracula and Yamil Borges as Mina.[22] Premiered in June, 1998. The audio recording of the musical was released the same year.

In 2006 concept album of musical Dracula was released with music by Christopher J. Orton, book and lyrics by William Gareth Evans, orchestrations and additional music by Ian Lynn, with Michael McCarthy as Dracula.[23] The professionally directed video of "Within My World" from the musical premiered in 2007. However, despite initial plans, the musical was never staged.

In 2006 Italian rock musical Dracula Opera Rock with music by Italian prog-rock band PFM (Premiata Forneria Marconi), lyrics by Vincenzo Incenzo and the arrangement by Natale Massara premiered in Rome, Italy. Dracula was portrayed by Vittorio Matteucci. Studio album was released in 2005.[24]

In 2010, a new musical version entitled The Blood of Dracula premiered in Scotland. It ran from 13–16 January at the Denny Civic Theatre in Dumbarton. It has a Book & Lyrics by Joseph Traynor and Music by Kevin Taylor. A Sequel to the play was also written, entitled Dracula: Resurrection, with music by Kevin Taylor.

Dracula: the Musical is a Swedish musical produced in 2010. Written by Lisa Linder and directed by Martin Geijer. Music was composed by Christer Johansson and Jacob Mülrad.[25]

Dracula, l'amour plus fort que la mort, a French musical in two acts by French choreographer Kamel Ouali, his debut production. It was first performed on 30 September 2011 at the Palais des Sports de Paris and continued until 1 January 2012. The Kamel Ouali work was inspired by Bram Stoker's Dracula and by the film version by Francis Ford Coppola.

In April 2000 an operatic version of Dracula, called Dracula, The Opera, premiered at the Lancaster Opera House in US, by the composer Paul Ziemba with Thomas Witakowski as Dracula. It's a classical-romantic opera in 3 acts with 4 ballet numbers. The score includes a waltz, a polonaise, a mazurka, several romantic arias, a lively gypsy number, plus music to accompany several specially choreographed ballets. Here is how Paul describes the score, "In all the music, melodic themes are distinct and often strongly developed depending upon scene, setting, story, and of course, the characters."[26] The opera had several productions across the US.

In 2004 the opera Nosferatu based on the film by F. W. Murnau by the composer Alva Henderson, with libretto by Dana Gioia premiered at Rimrock Opera in US. Count Orlock was performed by Doug Nagel, while Ellen Hutter was performed by Susan Gundunas. The opera had several productions across US.[27]

The popular and successful balletic Dracula adaptation by Michael Pink and Christopher Gable premiered in 1997, to commemorate the centenary publication of the novel. It was created for the Northern Ballet Theatre in the United Kingdom. The production stays as faithful to the book as possible in non-verbal theatre. Original music was composed by Philip Feeney, the Naxos recording of the score has remained a top seller. Sets and costumes were designed by Lez Brotherston, whose career as a designer for dance began with NBT. Lighting was by Paul Pyant. The production has been seen throughout the world, most companies presenting the work more than once during the last decade. It is the lure of the novel that makes this as popular in the dance world as the film industry. This same production team is responsible for many successful adaptations of popular novels.

Dracula, a balletic adaptation of Houston Ballet by choreographer Ben Stevenson, set to the music of Franz Liszt, with costumes by Judanna Lynn and set design by Thomas Boyd, premiered in 1997. The ballet saw many US productions since its premiere. The ballet's plot features a set of original characters and happens entirely in Transylvania.[29]

A new Northern Ballet Theatre production of Dracula was created by choreographer David Nixon in 2005 and has become popular at Halloween among many companies in the US and England. Originally Nixon choreographed his "Dracula" ballet in 1999 for Ballet Met, then redesigned production in 2005 for Northern Ballet. The ballet uses music of Alfred Schnittke and Sergei Rachmaninoff.

In 1938, Orson Welles and John Houseman chose Dracula to be the inaugural episode of the new radio show featuring their Broadway production company, The Mercury Theatre on the Air. The adaptation was largely faithful to the book, although condensed to fit in the show's hour-long format and with a different ending. Welles was the voice of both Dracula and "Arthur Seward", a pastiche character combining two of Lucy's suitors. The music was composed by Bernard Herrmann.

On 23 February 2008 BBC Radio 4's Saturday Drama broadcast Voyage of the Demeter, a one-hour radio play by Robert Forrest that dramatized the events that took place on board the schooner that transported Dracula to Whitby. Count Dracula, identified in this play as "The Gentleman", was played by Alexander Morton.

In January 2012, Big Finish Productions released the audio Sherlock Holmes: The Tangled Skein, which serves as both a sequel to the classic Sherlock Holmes tale The Hound of the Baskervilles and a retelling of Dracula, as Holmes and Watson's investigation into the return of Hound villain Stapleton leads to the discovery of Dracula's presence in England, with Van Helsing- now acting alone- asking for their help in confronting Dracula. The audio culminates in a confrontation at Baskerville Hall after Holmes and Watson have killed the now-vampire Stapelton, the two driving Dracula into the Grimpen Mire where he is destroyed by the rising sun after he is trapped in the Mire before sunrise. This adaptation includes Nicholas Briggs as Sherlock Holmes, Richard Earl as Dr Watson, Barnaby Edwards as Stapleton, John Banks as Van Helsing, and Giles Watling as Count Dracula, with all actors aside from Briggs and Earl playing other roles in this adaptation.[31]

A new two-part adaptation of Stoker's novel by Rebecca Lenkiewicz was broadcast as part of BBC Radio 4's "Gothic Imagination" series on October 20 and 27, 2012 starring Nicky Henson as Count Dracula. Also as part of the "Gothic Imagination" series on October 28, 2012, the F.W. Murnau film Nosferatu was reimagined on BBC Radio 3 as the radio play Midnight Cry of the Deathbird by Amanda Dalton directed by Susan Roberts, with Malcolm Raeburn playing the role of "Graf Orlock (Count Dracula)".[32]

In 1971, Hrabě Drakula, directed by Anna Procházková, was broadcast on Czechoslovakia television. It was reasonably faithful to the novel, except for the exclusion of Renfield. Ilja Racek played Dracula.

CBC-TV's (Canada) anthology series Purple Playhouse featured an hour-long adaptation, Dracula based on the book in 1973. It starred Norman Welsh as Dracula.

In 1973, Bram Stoker's Dracula, starring Jack Palance, was produced by Dan Curtis, best known for producing the gothic soap operaDark Shadows, and who worked from a script by sci-fi favorite Richard Matheson. Filmed in Yugoslavia and England, it was relatively faithful to the novel, though it tried to paint Dracula as a tragic, rather than evil, character in search of his lost love. It also drew the connection between Dracula and the historical figure of Vlad the Impaler, which was a popular notion at the time (see above). In these respects, it is also a close forerunner of Coppola's later film.

1977 saw a BBC television adaptation titled Count Dracula directed by Philip Saville. It starred Louis Jourdan as the Count and Frank Finlay as Van Helsing. This version is one of the more faithful adaptations of the book. It includes all of the main characters (only merging Arthur and Quincey into the same character) and has scenes of Jonathan recording events in his diary and Dr. Seward speaking into his dictaphone.

In 2002, the Italian telemovie Dracula was broadcast starring Patrick Bergin as Dracula. In the U.S., it was released on VHS and DVD as Dracula's Curse. It updates the events of the novel to the present day.

2006 saw a revisionist BBC TV adaptation of Dracula. It starred Marc Warren as Count Dracula, who was brought to England by Arthur Holmwood in attempt to cure his syphilis, which made it impossible for Arthur to consummate his marriage to Lucy Westenra.[33]

Dracula was portrayed as the lead character in NBC's 2013-2014 TV series Dracula. This reimagining depicted Dracula (played by Jonathan Rhys Myers) posing as Alexander Grayson, an American entrepreneur who is willing to bring modern science to the Victorian society. In reality, Dracula seeks revenge on those who had betrayed him centuries earlier. As his plans are set into motion, he falls in love with a woman who may be a reincarnation of his deceased wife.

The Munsters (1964-1966) featured "Grandpa" Sam Dracula, a vampire, who identifies himself as being the Count Dracula in one episode, although he has found a way to sustain himself without blood and is no longer vulnerable to sunlight. He is portrayed as a friendlier mad scientist-type. He still retains his abilities to turn into a wolf or a bat. Instead of the quasi-Eastern European accent usually associated with Dracula, Grandpa Munster speaks with a Brooklyn accent.

In the Doctor Who story "The Chase" (1965), the Doctor, his companions and the Daleks came across Dracula and Frankenstein's monster, although later both were shown to be robots.

Gilligan's Island, "Up At Bat" (1966) - After being bitten by a supposed vampire bat, Gilligan believes he is turning into a vampire. A dream sequence that spoofs Gothic horror films has Bob Denver portraying a Lugosi-like Dracula.

F Troop, "V is for Vampire" (1967) - Vincent Price does a humorously hammy turn as Transylvanian Count Sforza, who dresses and speaks like Bela Lugosi's Dracula. He travels by hearse, carries a pet crow on his arm and moves into a supposedly haunted mansion on the outskirts of town. Everyone is terrified of him, but in the end he turns out to be a harmless eccentric.

In the Sid and Marty Krofft series Lidsville (1971-1973), one of the evil HooDoo's Bad Hat Gang was Bela the Vampire Hat, a bat-eared top hat with a fanged cowl.

In the episode of The Brady Bunch "Two Petes in a Pod" (1974), Peter dresses up like Dracula for a costume party.

The enormous house in the Nickelodeongame showFinders Keepers (1987-1989) occasionally featured a room titled "Dracula's Den", which was constructed to resemble a room in a castle with windows with boards nailed across them (presumably to keep out the sunlight), cobwebs, bats and a Gothic-style chair and roll-top desk. The room also featured a full-sized coffin, in which a cast or crew member usually hid dressed as a mummy or as Dracula himself.

Count Dracula made two appearances in the live-action superhero show Superboy (1988-1992).

Dracula appeared in the self-titled 1990 syndicated series Dracula: The Series. The series lasted only 21 episodes and featured the adventures of Gustav Van Helsing and family versus vampire/business tycoon Alexander Lucard.

Dracula appeared in one of the commercials for Energizer in 1993. He emerges from his casket to get the battery off the Energizer Bunny, only to be locked out of his castle when the wind blows the front door closed. When he gets his spare key, the sun comes up and Dracula is vanquished.

In the chapter Masks of Evil (1993) of the American television series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles Indiana Jones encounters vampiric Vlad The Impaler in Transylvania in 1918.

Dracula has also appeared as a villain in the Season 5 of the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in an episode called "Buffy vs. Dracula" (2000) with Dracula portrayed by Rudolf Martin.[34] Dracula admits to Buffy Summers that he is intrigued and charmed by her legacy as she is of him. He also clarifies the origin of her powers, regardless of his attempt to lure her to evil. Buffy, having "seen his movies", waits after first killing him, noting that he "always comes back." He reappears in the canon post-finale comics Tales of the Vampires: Antique, and later the Season Eight story "Wolves at the Gate" (both written by Drew Goddard). Outside the canon, Dracula appears in Spike vs Dracula, which reveals that Dracula has connections to the Gypsy clan that cursed Angel with a soul. As established by his appearance in "Buffy vs. Dracula", he is an acquaintance of Anya Jenkins, and Spike claims he is a sell-out of the vampire world, fond of magic and Hollywood. The vampire popularized by Bram Stoker in the novel Dracula is also used as a basis for the ideas in the show, primarily the methods in which vampires are killed.

In several episodes of the TV show Scrubs (2001-2010), the main character J.D. makes references to a movie he is writing called Dr. Acula, the story of a "vampire doctor".

Emmanuelle vs. Dracula is a 2004 adult (softcore) TV film about Emmanuelle (played by Natasja Vermeer) having a bachelorette party at her house which is interrupted by vampires and Dracula (played by Marcus DeAnda) himself.

In 2006, a successful U.K. children's comedy, Young Dracula, started on CBBC, featuring the Count and his two young children, Vladimir and Ingrid, trying to live discreetly in rural Wales.

A mysterious vampire called Dracula appears in the Brazilian telenovelaOs Mutantes: Caminhos do Coração (2008-2009). In fact, he is a mutant vampire created by mixing his DNA with vampire bat DNA. Unlike in the novel, this Dracula is neither invincible nor undead, but he does possess superhuman strength and the ability to fly, and he also transforms some female characters into his vampire brides. His lieutenant is a ghoulish vampire called Bram, in homage to the original author. His nemesis is psychokinetic (and psychotic as well) vampire hunter Christiano Pena, who is bent on destroying Dracula, even if he has to kill innocents to do so.

In the Season 4 episode "Monster Movie" (2008) of the television series Supernatural, a shape-shifter being hunted by Sam and Dean hides under the guise of Count Dracula and considers Dean to be Jonathan Harker and a girl he met and fell in love with to be Mina.

The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice is a 2008 TV film in The Librarian trilogy of movies starring Noah Wyle as a librarian who protects a secret collection of artifacts from Vlad Dracula and his vampire hordes.

An episode of the British TV series Demons (2009) called "Suckers" tells the future story of Mina Harker and Quincy Harker.

Episode 50 called "Bloodlust" (2011) of The Murdoch Mysteries concerns vampire-like attacks at the time of the first publication of Stoker's book.

Dracula is the main antagonist of the third season of Penny Dreadful (2014-2016), where he is portrayed by Christian Camargo as a fallen angel and the brother of Lucifer. He poses as a kind and somewhat eccentric zoologist named Dr. Alexander Sweet in order to seduce Vanessa Ives, the series' protagonist, and use her power to take over the world.

Dracula has even been adapted for children's literature and entertainment, serving as the basis for several vampire cartoon characters over the years, although in the interest of creating child-friendly characters, the vampiric nature of the character is often understated or not referenced at all.

Dracula appears as the character called Vlad the Count (voiced by Mark Hamill) in the American animated short television series called Mina and the Count about a seven-year-old girl named Mina Harper and her encounters with Vlad, a 700-year-old vampire.

Dracula was parodied on Codename: Kids Next Door as the villain named Count Spankulot (voiced by Daran Norris). Instead of sucking blood, he spanks naughty children. He can turn people into vampires by spanking them with one of his gloves off and can only be turned back to normal if he himself is spanked. His home is never seen in the series. He can fly without changing into a bat.

The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy features Dracula (voiced by Phil LaMarr) as a recurring character. He is portrayed as an elderly and cantankerous African-American vampire who lives in a retirement home for older monsters and is the paternal grandfather of main character Irwin. This version more closely resembles Blacula and his characterization is based on Redd Foxx.

The cartoon series Aqua Teen Hunger Force features a recurring television program called Assisted Living Dracula which features an elderly Dracula's (Don Kennedy) life in a retirement home. In one episode, the real Dracula visits MC Pee Pants in his latest incarnation as an old man named Little Brittle and bites him. MC Pee Pants leaves the hospital as a newly made vampire, only to die from exposure to sunlight. Dracula suffers the same fate.

In the 1990s there was a cartoon about Dracula's family called Little Dracula. The title character's voice was done by Edan Gross.

Dracula appeared as the titular character in the direct-to-video movie The Batman vs. Dracula (2005). He had been killed in the past, but was accidentally revived by the Penguin. In this media adaption, Dracula is depicted as one of the stronger supervillains that Batman has had to fight, being able to fly, and possesses great super-speed and -strength; his reliance on his powers proves to be his undoing, due to the fact that he has underestimated Batman's intellect and cunning, in which he is able to restore Dracula's victims into humans again with an anti-vampirism vaccine he synthesized and kills him after he lures Dracula into a trap built with a solar generator.

The Super Mario Bros. Super Show featured an episode titled "Count Koopula", which, as the title suggests, featured Bowser as a vampire who sucked on tomato sauce. Dracula himself appeared in a live-action segment of the series. Also, the Castlevania version of Dracula was a semi-regular character on Captain N: The Game Master, albeit always referred to as the Count.

In the 1980 Hanna-Barbera cartoon, Drak Pack, Count Dracula is a good guy (reformed from evil) who is the "official" leader of the team (who calls him "Big D"). Drak, Jr. is his great, great + nephew.

Dracula appears in the Robot Chicken episode "Tubba-Bubba's Now Hubba-Hubba" voiced by Mocean Melvin. In a three-part segment that parodies 24, Dracula was shown sleeping in his casket. In the third part, Dracula emerges to help combat a terrorist threat on a plane after interrogating the suspects. After taking out the terrorists and dropping the bomb on Van Helsing's house, Dracula calls his boss to inform them that the bomb is no more, yet the passengers are dead. When the flight attendant tells Dracula that she and the passengers are not dead, Dracula turns his attention toward them.

The character "Count Blah" from the fictional "Sweetknuckle Junction" from Greg the Bunny was a spoof of Dracula, but more accurately a spoof of Sesame Street's Count von Count, who, Blah said, was actually from Brooklyn.

Count Dracula appears as a villain on Super Friends in an episode titled "Attack of the Vampire", originally released on October 14, 1978. In the episode, Dracula arises and tries to turn the whole Earth's population into vampires. The Super Friends battle Dracula, who transforms Superman and the Wonder Twins into vampires. Instead of biting them, Dracula uses intense beams from his eyes to transform his victims into vampires.

Monster High, a Mattel fashion line of dolls and related series, features Draculaura, daughter of Dracula; she is a vegan vampire.

In the episode, "I Dated a Robot" of the third season of Futurama, Count Dracula appears only to shout BLEH! before exploding.

Count Dracula appears in Mad Monster Party? voiced by Allen Swift. This version is shown to be wearing a monocle. Count Dracula is among the monsters that Baron Boris von Frankenstein invites to the Isle of Evil in order to show off the secret of total destruction and announce his retirement from the Worldwide Organization of Monsters.

Count Dracula appears in Mad Mad Mad Monsters (a "prequel of sorts" to Mad Monster Party?) voiced again by Allen Swift. He and his son, Boobula, are invited by Baron Henry von Frankenstein to attend the wedding of Frankenstein's Monster and its Bride at the Transylvania Astoria Hotel.

Dracula appears in a 2017 German/British 3D computer-animated film Happy Family (voiced by Jason Isaacs). The film tells about the Wishbone family who are, in fact, far from happy. In an attempt to reconnect as a family, mother Emma plans a fun night out. However, her plan backfires when an evil witch curses them and they are all turned into monsters.[35]

Makt Myrkranna (Powers of Darkness, 1901) by Bram Stoker and Valdimar Ásmundsson (10. July 1852 – 17. April 1902), is a rewritten Icelandic version of Stoker's novel, and also contains an original preface written by Stoker himself. First appeared in serial form in the newspaper Fjallkonan (The Lady of the Mountain) between January 1900 and March 1901, before being published in book form later the same year. New characters include detective called Barrington and a whole group of villainous aristocrats: Romanian Prince Koromesz, his sister, the beautiful Countess Ida Varkony; Margravine Caroma Rubiano, a medium; and Madame Saint Amand, an elegant young woman noted for taking a number of distinguished lovers.[36][37]

A Swedish version from 1899, serialized in the country's newspapers Dagen and Aftonbladet under the title Mörkrets Makter which, just like the Icelandic title, means Powers of Darkness. The translations contains parts not present in neither Dracula or Makt Myrkranna and was translated by someone who used the pseudonym “A—e.”[38]

In The Diaries of the Family Dracul, a trilogy by Jeanne Kalogridis, Vlad's relationship with his mortal descendants is explored, as are the specific terms of his vampiric curse and his pact with the Romanian peasants who serve him. The novels are written in epistolary form and the story is intertwined with that of Stoker's novel, as well as events from the life of Vlad the Impaler, expanding on minor characters and details from the Dracula mythos and Romanian history and culture.

Elizabeth Kostova's 2005 novel The Historian follows several historians whose research has led them too close to Dracula as they hunt the vampire across Europe.

Meg Cabot's 2010 novel Insatiable has a main character named Meena Harper who has a relationship with Dracula's son, Lucien.[39]

In the book series Vampire Hunter D, which takes place 10,000 years in the future, D's adversary Count Magnus discovers that D is the son of Dracula, who is referred to as "the Sacred Ancestor" in the series.

Will Hill's Department 19 is about Jamie Carpenter, a descendant of Henry Carpenter, Van Helsing's valet who saves Van Helsing's life multiple times. Department 19 (or Blacklight), is an organization started by the people from the original Dracula, and they fight vampires across the world.

Dacre Stoker, who is a great-grandnephew of Bram Stoker, co-wrote with screenwriter Ian Holt a sequel to Dracula titled Dracula the Un-dead (Stoker's original title), which reveals that Dracula was not actually the true villain, but sought to eliminate the more dangerous Elizabeth Bathory, the storyline also revealing that Quincey Harker is actually the son of Mina and Dracula and ending with the death of all the characters while the sole survivor, Quincey, is last seen boarding the R.M.S. Titanic on her maiden voyage. Dacre Stoker claims that parts of the work are based on excised material from the original novel and Stoker's notes.[40] In North America, the book was published by E.P. Dutton.[41]

A Betrayal in Blood by Mark A. Latham takes an unconventional interpretation of the original novel when Sherlock Holmes is hired by his brother Mycroft to investigate Dracula's death. In the course of the novel, Holmes confirms that Dracula was not a vampire, but in reality his death was part of a complex plan orchestrated by Van Helsing; a former German agent, Van Helsing was acquainted with Dracula in their youth, but after Dracula had an affair with Van Helsing's wife that resulted in the birth of a son, the son was given up for adoption to become Arthur Holmwood and Dracula was told that he was dead. In the course of the novel, Holmes determines that Van Helsing set up various complex deceptions to create the illusion of Dracula as a vampire, killed Quincey Morris because he realized the truth, hired an actress to pose as the vampire Lucy to reinforce his deception and blackmailed Jonathan and Mina to assist him due to their role in the death of Jonathan's employer Mr. Hawkins, while Renfield was the solicitor who was actually sent to Dracula's castle and driven insane by Dracula's manner. At the conclusion of the novel, the Harkers have been arrested, Holmwood is psychologically broken and Van Helsing commits suicide to escape a trial after he is caught by Holmes and Watson.

Vlad: The Last Confession by Chris Humphreys mixes myth and historical facts. The novel retraces the life of the historical figure of Vlad III who inspired the Dracula legend. While the story is based on the historical 15th century ruler of Wallachia, it also draws inspiration from the vampire legends that surround the Wallachian Prince.

Gabrielle Estres’ novel Captive retraces the life of Vlad Țepeș, the Wallachian ruler who inspired Bram Stoker's Dracula. The book combines historical facts and contemporary 15th century pamphlets with the vampire lore created by Stoker.

A version of Dracula (who hates the name and is known as Vlad Tepesh) appears first as a supporting character in the Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost, then in a more central role as the protagonist's love interest in the spin-off Night Prince series. He is depicted as a powerful master vampire who was turned by a vampire named Tenoch and has the ability to control fire and read human minds in addition to the abilities common to vampires.

Shepard, Leslie. 1977. The Dracula Book of Great Vampire Stories. Secaucus, N.J.: Citadel Press. ISBN0806505656. Edited with an introduction by Leslie Shepard: Le Fanu, S. Carmilla.--De Maupassant, G. The Horla.--Count Stenbock. The Sad Story of a Vampire.--Braddon, M. E. Good Lady Ducayne.--Loring, F. G. The Tomb of Sarah.--Crawford, F. M. For the Blood is the Life.--Benson, E. F. The Room in the Tower.--Blackwood, A. The Transfer.--Stoker, B. Dracula's Guest.--Neruda, J. The Vampire.--Benson, E. F. Mrs. Amworth.--Roman, V. Four Wooden Stakes.--Hartmann, F. An Authenticated Vampire Story.

Michael Sims. 2010. Dracula's Guest: A Connoisseur's Collection of Victorian Vampire Stories. Walker & Co. ISBN0802719716. 480 pages. Michael Sims brings together the very best vampire stories of the Victorian era—from England, America, France, Germany, Transylvania, and even Japan—into a unique collection that highlights their cultural variety. Beginning with the supposedly true accounts that captivated Byron and Shelley, the stories range from Edgar Allan Poe's "The Oval Portrait" and Sheridan Le Fanu's "Carmilla" to Guy de Maupassant's "The Horla" and Mary Elizabeth Braddon's "Good Lady Ducayne". Sims also includes a 19th-century travel tour of Transylvanian superstitions and rounds out the collection with Stoker's own "Dracula's Guest"— a chapter omitted from his landmark novel.

Lanzara, Joseph. 2012. Classic Monster Novels Condensed[42] contains a novella of 28,000 words, which is closely based on the 162,000-word Bram Stoker novel and told in traditional third person narrative. New Arts Library. ISBN978-1-4791-9322-6.

Dracula has been a recurring character in many comic books, most notably, the Marvel comics version of Dracula featured in The Tomb of Dracula written primarily by Marv Wolfman (following two issues each by Gerry Conway, Archie Goodwin and Gardner Fox) and drawn by Gene Colan in the 1970s. They concurrently published Dracula Lives (1973–1975) in their black-and-white magazine line under the Curtis imprint, 13 issues followed by a separately numbered all-reprint annual. After the color comic ended with #70 (August 1979), the company utilized the exact title for another black-and white magazine (#1, October 1979), which was canceled as of its sixth issue (August 1980). Their version of the character would continue to be a presence in the Marvel Universe for many years thereafter, as recently as the 2006 X-Men crossover X-Men: Apocalypse vs. Dracula. Wolfman and Colan reteamed for a three-issue Dracula miniseries comic in 1998, titled The Curse of Dracula, this time for Dark Horse Comics.[43] Although briefly killed in a recent storyline, Dracula was resurrected by the X-Men to help them defeat his son, Xarus, when he attempted to bring the vampires of the world together to turn the X-Men and other remaining mutants into vampires.

The comic Victorian Undead 2: Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula sees Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson assist Van Helsing's forces against Dracula in an alternate continuity where England was decimated by a zombie invasion led by Professor Moriarty a year ago, Dracula having been brought to England by Arthur Holmwood, here an agent of Mycroft Holmes' Diogenes Club looking for supernatural weapons.

Dracula appears in the novel series Vampire Hunter D. In this adaptation, Dracula is seen as a vampire god-king who deals out both life and death. Dracula does not appear in the Vampire Hunter D anime adaptations, however he is referenced. However, in the English dub of the anime, D, the titular central character, states that Dracula respected humanity and did not feed on innocent people.

The author of Vampire Hunter D, Hideyuki Kikuchi, also wrote a novel that presents Dracula himself appearing in Japan sometime before the events of Bram Stoker's novel called Meiji Dorakyuu Den. The book was released in the United States as Dark Wars: the Tale of Meiji Dracula and featured Dracula facing off with several citizens of Japan, who ultimately drive him away from Japan, presumably back to Romania, where he then lives out the events of Bram Stoker's novel.

The Digimon series depicts a Digimon named Vamdemon (renamed Myotismon in the English dub) who resembles Dracula as one of the main antagonists. Two other Digimon, an imp named Dracmon and his Ultimate form GranDracmon, are named after Dracula.

In the manga and anime series Shaman King one of the antagonists, named Boris Tepes Dracula, is a descendant of Vlad the Impaler.

The manga Endo Beast, written by Riko Takahashi, features a character named "Dracula" living as a commoner with the name Daniel Illiescu. He is a wealthy businessman living in the fictional world of Kanaeda; instead of a castle Daniel resides inside a large chateau with a rich view of the countryside. He plays a key role in the manga sporting a dual personality as the kind, generous Daniel during the day time and at night turning into the evil, bloodthirsty Dracula.

The manga Dance in the Vampire Bund by Nozomu Tamaki features Mina Tepes as the ruler of the vampire world. The manga deals in part with her efforts to ease the tensions between the newly revealed vampire race and the humans who have to live alongside them.

In the Dragon Ball manga there is a minor antagonist named Count Dracula - who is a Vampire who uses the Muay Thai fighting style - in the anime this character is referred to as "Fangs the Vampire" or alternatively "Dracula Man". The Dragon Ball Z series' 12th movie Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn also features a vampire named "Count Drac" escaping from Hell with other villains. Additionally Vampire enemies appear in the game Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury - including two who directly referencing Dracula named "Vlad" and "Nosferatu".

In the light novel and anime series Fate/Apocrypha, Vlad III appears under the title of "Lancer of Black". This incarnation places him as a "Heroic Spirit" or "Servant" fighting against the "Red Faction", which also employs other heroes based on historical figures, on an event called the "Great Holy Grail War". Incidentally, one of his abilities allows him to transform into the legendary vampire, however, he hates how the world portrayed him as a bloodsucking monster in matters that did not involve him in any way, staining his honor as well as the feats he had accomplished when he was alive, and would rather die than invoke said legend.

The 2017 Netflix animated series Castlevania adapts the version of Dracula (voiced by Graham McTavish and Naoya Uchida) seen in the video game series of the same name.

The novelty song "Batman, Wolfman, Frankenstein or Dracula" by Canadian vocal quartet The Diamonds from their single Walkin' The Stroll (1959) deals with the narrator, whose girlfriend likes monsters and monster movies as they are the only thing that turns her on.

Song "Bela Lugosi's Dead" by English post-punk band Bauhaus, their debut single from 1979, merges actor Bela Lugosi with his character Dracula from the 1931 film. The song is often considered the first Gothic rock record and has been immensely influential on Gothic music and contemporary Goth culture.

American heavy metal band Helstar has a song "Dracula's Castle" on their album Burning Star (1984). The first half of their album Nosferatu (1989) follows a storyline based on Bram Stoker's novel Dracula.

Cradle of Filth, a British extreme metal band whose lyrical themes and imagery are heavily influenced by Gothic literature, poetry, mythology and horror films, has several references to Dracula in their songs. The line from Bram Stoker's novel "Listen to them the children of the night what sweet music they make" is used in the songs "A Dream Of Wolves In The Snow" from the album The Principle of Evil Made Flesh (1994) and "Queen Of Winter, Throned" from the EP V Empire or Dark Faerytales in Phallustein (1996). Their song "Lovesick for Mina", from the album Thornography (2006), deals with Dracula's obsession over Mina Murray.

Songs of Theatres des Vampires, an Italian Gothic metal band, noted for their predominant theme of vampirism within their lyrics, have a lot of references to Bram Stoker's novel and to Dracula himself.

Song "Satanic Rites of Drugula" by English doom metal band Electric Wizard from their album Witchcult Today (2007) is about a strung-out Count being revived by dope smoke and administering drugs to his victims before getting high on their blood.

American singer Bea Miller has a pop rock song with hip-hop influences, "Dracula", from her debut EP album Young Blood (2014).

Dracula appears at the end of Tom Lehrer's song "L-Y" from The Electric Company: "You enter a very dark room and sitting there in the gloom...is DRACULA! Now how do you say goodbye?/Immediately, Immediately, Immediate L-Y! Bye-bye!"

Vlad Ţepeş is one of the more mysterious elder vampires in Vampire: The Masquerade. An Autarkis of the TzimisceClan, he has been present at many of the major events in the World of Darkness. In the Vampire: The Requiem setting, he is the founder of the 'Ordo Dracul', a secretive organisation to which the player's characters may claim membership. Both games draw much from the novel Dracula and vampire legends in general.

In the Castlevania series (known as "Akumajo Dracula" (Demon Castle Dracula) in Japan), Count Vlad Ţepeş Dracula, as he is known in the series, is the ultimate source of evil that the others must confront, after adventuring through Dracula's castle. The other aspect in relations to the Count is his son, Adrian Fahrenheit Ţepeş, commonly known as "Alucard", who has dedicated his life to ensure the survival of the human race and the preventing of his father's tyranny. In the Lords of Shadow reboot/spinoff series, Dracula was once a holy knight named Gabriel Belmont who was turned into a vampire and claimed overwhelming power in the first game's Reverie and Resurrection DLC's. The trilogy portrays Dracula in a more sympathetic light as he was used by others to do dark things. So far the Lords of Shadow series are the only games in the franchise where Dracula is featured as the main playable character. Dracula is also a boss in the 2018 fighting game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, in which the Castlevania series was also prominently featured.

Now-defunct software company CRL produced a series of games in the 1980s featuring classic horror classics including Dracula. These were the first game titles in the U.K. to receive BBFC certification (they were rated "15"), normally reserved for films and videos. There were two adventure games, Dracula: Resurrection and The Last Sanctuary. Both took place after the novels end and continued Jonathan and Mina Harker's fight against the Count.

Count Dracula appears in Sierra Entertainment's Kings Quest II, which was released in 1985. The hero of the game, King Graham, has to defeat Dracula by driving a stake through his heart.

Count Dracula, appearing as an anthropomorphic duck named Dracula Duck, appears as the final boss of the NES game DuckTales, as well as the remake DuckTales: Remastered.

In Overwatch, Dracula appears as a skin for Reaper. In the Overwatch Halloween event's Tale of Dr. Junkenstein "The Reaper" appears as Dracula during the Endless Night.[51]

The mobile game Fate/Grand Order has Dracula's human incarnation, Vlad III, appear as a 5-Star Berserker and a 4-Star Lancer-class Servant. His Berserker incarnation is described as "an incarnation of calamity that mercilessly wields his powers as a vampire." He appears in the Orleans singularity as an ally of Jeanne d'Arc Alter and in Salomon as one of the Servants from the Orleans singularity.

Mad magazine has published countless spoofs of Dracula. In one, appearing in the Mad Summer Special 1983, on the inside front cover, a cartoon sequence drawn by Sergio Aragonés shows Dracula attacking a hippie who has taken LSD; Drac staggers away, seeing colorful hallucinations including blood, bats and such.

Russian authors Andrey Shary and Vladimir Vedrashko in 2009 published a book Sign D: Dracula in Books and on the Screen devoted in particular to Dracula image implications in Soviet and Russian popular and mass culture.

^Glut, Donald F. The Dracula Book (1975) ("Other film versions of Dracula are reported to have been made about this time — one being Russian — but there is no real verification to substantiate these claims.")